


We Do it Differently in Ljubljana

by Caffeine_addict



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Enemies to Lovers, Fluff, M/M, Murder, Murder Mystery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-08
Updated: 2019-01-26
Packaged: 2019-04-20 02:42:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14251353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caffeine_addict/pseuds/Caffeine_addict
Summary: Loki and Darcy are roommates and best friends. When their friend is found frozen to death, and the police dismisses it as an accident, the pair decided to investigate. Maybe it was the many episodes of Miss Marple and literally any other murder mystery detective series/film that made them do it.Set in Ljubljana because why not.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hiya!
> 
> I decided to do something I've wanted to do for a long time. Hope you all enjoy it!

It was 2 am on a Friday night, Saturday really.  
It started snowing three hours ago, and it did not seem like it would stop anytime soon. It was coming down in large quantities, like someone was throwing cotton buds from the sky. No one outside was safe from it. but that wasn’t a problem for most people. 

Everyone was asleep. There was only one figure making her way home. Her name was Masha and twenty minutes ago, she was pleasantly drunk. Now, it was wearing off and the cold was setting in. her coat, although pretty, was not enough to keep her warm in the snow and the wind that was wreaking havoc on Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. She has lived there all her life and it would soon become where she will also die. 

For she has lost her keys and with her roommate still at the party, her phone nearly dead because of the cold, and the fatigue after a long day, there wasn’t much she assumed she could do. Sat down by the bridge, she observed the street lights and the fountain in its amusing over-sized fake pom pom hat. The irony that an inanimate object was kept safe from the cold, and she barely was, struck her as funny. 

At least she had her gloves with her. They were cheap and an impulse buy from H&M, so their effectiveness was greatly reduced when windy. Masha could feel the wind going through the so called woolly material. Her hands were sore. 

With her last breath she tried calling Jane, her roommate, but she never answered. She decided to wait it out. 

Too bad that when Jane finally arrived and hour later, she was too focused on her route to see her half-frozen roommate sitting by the bridge. I suppose the forming layer of snow had something to do with that.


	2. Laziness is a great motivator, but denial is better

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's do this!   
> I hope you guys like this - Loki and Darcy team up and get on the case!   
> The cliff hanger was obligatory, one day I will be able to finish a chapter without it, but not today :) 
> 
> This will all be very cute and fluffy, because if we need something, it's a distraction from Infinity War that killed us all.

Have you ever felt like something needed to be done, but really hoped it wouldn’t be your responsibility? But there was this nagging feeling that it was going to be? That’s how our protagonist, well one of the two we are going to have, felt. It was a terrible nagging feeling in his gut that just wouldn’t go away. Loki, that’s him, didn’t mind waking up in the middle of the night, it was a terribly cosy feeling to be in bed awake when everyone was sleeping. 

Except tonight was a bit different. 

The orange light from outside and the soft falling snow didn’t make it any better. 

His friend was dead. So very dead. 

He always enjoyed snow, but now he saw it as a traitor. Obviously a ridiculous feeling, snow was hardly sentient, but one he couldn’t stop having.   
The episode of Star Trek he was watching, didn’t help either. Despite the fact Uhura just very dramatically threw herself from her chair and spun to the door. 

The tea in his hand didn’t help. And tea could solve so many problems. 

“Fuck.” He whispered to himself. Looking down at the tea sediment in his cup, he then took a sip. “I guess I’ll have to do it myself.” He decided once and for all. 

Suddenly he could breathe a bit easier, even if he had no idea how he was supposed to do it. 

The door of his flatmate’s room opened. Her sleeping schedule was a mystery to Loki, so she was either fully awake and ready to do some work or preparing for sleep. Or like him. It was anyone’s guess. 

Yawning she went to the kitchen. She was wearing a gingham blouse and nothing else. The bedhead she was sporting was impressive – her long brown hair was full of volume, but it stuck out in all the wrong places. His probably did the same thing.

 

“Why are you awake?” She shouted to him. 

“I couldn’t sleep. Too nervous.”

With a cup of coffee she sat down next to him. So it was morning for her. Darcy was a stunningly good-looking woman, with a poisonous tongue and an ability to speak about anything at any time with anyone. 

“What about?” 

“Masha.”

Darcy was drinking her coffee when she appeared to remember something in response. “I think it’s weird how she just froze to death. Her the person who was always cold and always wore so many layers of clothing. And there she was in a thin ass coat. And those stupid gloves, she was wearing ski gloves the day before. It’s shady I tell ya.” 

“Exactly!” Loki was glad she was on the same page. “That’s why I’ve decided we need to do something.” 

“Are you suggesting we Miss Marple this?” Darcy was far too excited for someone who just woke up. 

“If you mean stick our noses in and solve the murder, then yes.” 

“Awesome. I’ll got buy a whiteboard in the morning.” Darcy stated. 

“Since when are we this organised?” Loki teased her. Darcy was the messiest person he knew. If he didn’t tidy up after her like a mother hen, she would have been the very first person in Slovenia on an episode of Hoarders. 

“Since I get to play detective.”

“Do you want to have a pow wow now or shall we regroup for a power brunch?” Loki was full burrito at this point, with his duvet wrapped around him for maximum cosiness. The blank look he gave her made Darcy laugh. 

“Brunch detectives it is. Now, let’s watch some sassy Spock.” 

“Literally the only reason I still live.” Loki deadpanned. 

Six hours later Loki was dressed like he lived in Iceland. He wondered why the hell the weather insisted to think the same, but all he could come up with was global warming. Instead he focused on walking on the thick layer of snow that was covering the entire pavement. It was the most exercise he got all year and by the time he got to the Le Petit Caffe, his thighs felt like he went up 17 flights of stairs. 

Darcy was already waiting for him, impossibly chirpy. Her dark berry lipstick matched her nail polish and she was very proud of that. So proud that even the waitress was forced to admire it. Rightly so. Her nail polish was beautiful. 

“I think I know how we could do this.” She said as she gave him a hug over the table. Her sleeping schedule might have been a mystery, but she got so much shit done in life it was incredible. For example, today she got up at 4 am after sleeping for 8 hours; then she purchased a whiteboard online (should be here this week), did her uni homework and continued her coursework. Then she went outside and bought some adorable magnets and googled how to solve a murder while she bought her makeup essentials. At some point she applied makeup and did her nails. Darcy also talked with her sister. Somehow it was a normal morning for her. 

“Great because I was thinking about it on the way here.” He peeled off layer after layer until he revealed a black t shirt with his comic name-mate Loki. He pushed his chin-length black hair behind his ears and sat down. “I think we should first establish what we know and then talk to everyone at the party and fill in the gaps about what happened that night.” 

The waiter took his order and overly caffeinated Darcy ordered herself another coffee. Water was for the weak. 

“Great minds think alike. However, we should also search for everyone’s dirty secrets. Someone must be hiding something. Masha didn’t just freeze to death.” Loki’s flatmate was this close to ranting. You don’t see it, but I just put two of my fingers together and there is next to nothing in terms of space between them. 

The coffee the waiter brought was full of steaming foamy milk above a medium quantity of delightfully bitter, but not burnt espresso. Last year Darcy came home with a nespresso machine saying she could no longer live a lie. They deserved better coffee than the instant drivel they’ve been drinking. She was right, but the downside was that the coffee they drank elsewhere could very possibly be disappointing. Slovenia did a lot of things right, but coffee was an easy hit and miss. In short, they became coffee snobs. 

For a minute they enjoyed their caffeinated beverages in silence. Loki spoke first. 

“Masha was the first one to leave the party.” Darcy nodded. She pulled out an a3 piece of paper, a ruler and colourful pens. “Are we making a timeline?” He perked up.

“I am, your handwriting looks like spiders dancing.” 

“It’s not that bad.” 

“I was being nice.” Loki stuck out his tongue. How rude of her. 

“When did she leave? About 1.30 am right?” Nodding, Loki leaned back. He told all this to the police a month ago, but he was still unsure about everything. Did he create memories to fit with that he assumed happened or was it true? He hoped it was the former. 

“I saw her at the bathroom and she hugged me goodbye. She was tipsy, but we all were. Then she took her coat and as she was putting it on, I went to the bathroom. She was speaking with Clint who was facing the door so he must have seen her leave.” 

“Right. I was buying a drink then and she tapped me to say bye before I went to the bar. I found the slip and the time stamp was 1.37 am. Jane was with me then, we were both getting a drink. She left thirty minutes later pretty drunk and was somehow the second one to leave. So that makes it 2.07 when she left.” 

Loki was watching as Darcy’s pen glided across the paper. The trail it was leaving was beautiful and colourful, as she wrote with a blue pen and underlined Jane with purple. 

“Who left after her?” she asked knowing the answer. “Clint, right? He left with Natasha.” Loki nodded. 

“When was that?” He asked. “We left at 2.40 when we were thrown out. I remember because we were suddenly the only ones there.” 

Loki thought about it. “I don’t know. That part was a bit blurry.” 

“So Masha left at 1.30 and was dead by the time Jane passed her at 2.40 ish.” Darcy thought for a moment. “When did she get home?” 

“I don’t know. We’ll ask her.” Darcy said. Loki bit his lip. 

“I forgot this entails talking to people.” 

“Poor baby.” She teased. “They are people we know, we can do this.” 

“So if the people at the party didn’t kill her, who did?” Loki wondered. This was impossible. 

“To be fair, you don’t need to be there when she died. You just needed to make sure she couldn’t get home and hoped she didn’t go anywhere warm.” Darcy was reasonable as always. 

“Fair enough.” 

Darcy hated when people said that. Sure it means ‘I acknowledge what you said and I have nothing much to add’, but couldn’t people just try and respond?!

“I think we need to talk with everyone who was there. And with Masha’s PhD supervisor. Find out if it was something else that got her killed. Maybe it wasn’t one of us.” 

They both thought about it. 

Loki pulled out his phone. “I’ll go annoy Jane”, he said and looked at his watch. “She should be at the library now.” Darcy jumped at the opportunity. “I’ll come with you.” 

“Look at us, baby’s first interrogation.” Loki hope that things would all work out. He was hopeful, and this seemed to be far more manageable that he thought at first. 

Could they do it? He searched his feelings and discovered he knew unconditionally this would work out ok. It had to. 

“Are you as nervous as I am.” Darcy asked. She was so good at looking confident and positive that people seemed to forget she could have any issues, let alone ordinary worries. 

“God, yes.” Loki exhaled. His companion was equally relieved. With no words they held hands for courage. Darcy focused on the snowflakes that were falling down like there was no tomorrow. She guessed there wasn’t a tomorrow for them. Then she realised that it was fucking cold outside, and they would exist for another week at the least. 

++++ 

True to Loki’s word, Jane was in the library. She seemed to be there day and night, preferring to have a private life that consisted only of Netflix and food. She was the most conscientious person the newbie detectives knew. Always working and rarely having any fun, it was a miracle and a tragedy she was there that night.   
The brunette loved books. Anytime that she walked into the library, life improved and she was at ease. It wasn’t uncommon, apparently this was a genuine relaxation technique. Google it. 

Jane, the tiny person, was drinking a large coffee. She had her earphones in – they were connected to an Apple computer, because that is what people need in life, that was placed between two large piles of enormous books on physics. She was a PhD student at University of Ljubljana, as was Masha. Loki and Darcy were both MA students at the same University. That was hardly surprising as it was the largest university in the country, as well as one of the three was free (if you were from there) or as the case was, much cheaper and just as good as others abroad. Even if the facilities were sometimes lacking, the knowledge there was good and current.   
Although Darcy announced their presence, she was still shocked to see them. The group moved a floor down to the coffee machine. Not to have more coffee, but to talk freely. 

“The snow today is terrible.” Jane began. “Although the article I’m reading is doing my head in.” Like so many people in Slovenia, especially the younger generation, her English was impeccable, even if the accent proved to be tougher to rid than anyone expected. It was one of the reasons why Loki and Darcy more frequently used Slovene outside of the actual country. Darcy lived here since she was 11 and was a pro, and Loki had a knack for languages, even the tough ones like Slovenian. 

“Don’t even, it is a nightmare.” Darcy was about to go on a anti snow rant when Loki interrupted her. 

“We have a question.” 

“I know you, you have 17 questions prepared at any one time.” Jane snorted. 

“About Masha.” Jane gawked at him. “Why?” 

“I just think that her death seems shady. It doesn’t work.” 

Jane was all compassion. She was naturally that kind of person – if you had a problem and you needed a shoulder to cry on, she was your girl. 

“I had…” she started the sentence, “have that feeling sometimes. We’re reading too much into it. It was a horrible tragedy but going on a wild goose chase isn’t going to bring her back.” 

“I know that.” The atmosphere between them was remorseful. It was silent and full of grief. However, Loki’s determination stuck out like a sore thumb. 

“So, I’m asking you. Tell us about that night. What you know about Masha in the last week of her life and help us. Even if her own clumsiness got her dead, I want to know that.” 

Jane sighed. 

“I was the second one to leave, about thirty minutes after her. Darcy remembers I was with her, as Masha was leaving, buying another drink, even though I shouldn’t really.” She thought about what happened next. 

“I took the usual way home. There was some snow on the ground, but I was focusing more on not falling over than on anything else. Walking straight was hard. What else? Oh, I got home and I had some water, a lot of it. I tried being as quiet as I could. I think I microwaved some food, I know I took off my makeup and I wasn’t too pleased with my makeup remover. I remember this because I right afterwards I was watching something on Netflix while purchasing a Pixi duo something remover.” 

“UU, is that the one with the oil and the cleanser?” Darcy couldn’t resist asking. 

“Yes, it’s very good. Really enjoying it.” 

Loki knew all this, maybe not the remover part, but that wasn’t exactly useful.

“Right, you didn’t go anywhere on the way back, just home?” 

“No.” 

Darcy thought about her answer. “What did you do that day? Before the party?” 

Jane was taken aback by the question. “I was working, like any other day. Had a class or two to attend, it was a busy day… I got back late around 7 pm, I changed and showered. Masha was getting ready as I walked in. Said hi to her, she was in the living room then, but she left by the time I got out of the bathroom.” 

“So, she got to the party alone?” Loki tried to remember when he arrived, Jane did come after everyone, that much he knew, but Masha was there when he walked in. 

He was chronically early, but Masha was usually earlier than him. 

“What about Masha, do you know what she did that day?” He asked. 

Jane thought about it. “She just got back from her silly little trip. I know because her suitcase was opened on the floor.” 

“What trip?” 

“With the guy?” Jane tried. 

Loki wasn’t the person to be abreast of other people’s news, he had his head too far up his ass/personal problems to do that. It was an issue, one that he was hoping to fix. Darcy on the other hand, knew everything. Knowing what people were up to, was her business. 

“I thought you knew…” They urged her to go on. “About a month ago, when she went to that conference in Geneva, Masha met a guy. Older, super rich, sexy apparently. She never said what exactly was going on between them, but she would have facetime appointments at strange hours, weekend trips to god knows where. I asked once and she said that right now it was a secret, but I would know soon.” 

“Did she give you a name?” Darcy asked. 

“No. But I’m sure you could get her computer from her room. Even phone, if you know the pin code.” Jane offered. 

“That would work.” Loki said slowly. He was looking at Darcy, who was likewise staring at him. They had their first proper clue. 

++++ 

“You gotta love Masha’s parents.” Darcy just got off the phone with them. They agreed to let them poke in their daughter’s computer. Maybe because they though Darcy needed an important file from her computer. Never mind, that it was an obvious lie. 

“Don’t tell me they actually said yes.” 

“But they did, do you want me to lie, my favourite sour-faced non-Norse-god?” 

“I am just so glad, she had her computer so poorly protected.” 

“Ikr, imagine if she actually listened to us and got rid of the paper with the password.” Darcy thanked the god she didn’t believe in. 

“I suppose it’s time we go digging through Masha stuff…” Loki started. “that’s not going to be weird at all.” 

“At least she didn’t keep a diary. What if we had to read all her private thoughts? More importantly, what if she bitched about us?” 

Loki shot her a look. “Yes, that is the worst thing we can discover.” 

“Just saying.” 

With Jane’s keys they unlocked the door. Obviously, she was still loving there, but without Masha and her fantastic cleaning skills, the place was a mess. Clothes were strewn on the couch, a shoe was in the kitchen, the other one in by the bathroom door. Three half empty glasses of water were on the same living room table. That would have been acceptable, had Loki not found the kitchen almost impeccable. He found it funny, because he had the same hang up. A dirty kitchen he couldn’t stand, but everything else was fine. 

“I am honestly so grateful, they left her room as it is.” Darcy commented. The discarded clothes from before the party were still on the bed, the makeup bag next to them and the poorly closed foundation was still dangerously close to leaking everywhere. 

Loki started at the open notebook. After a month the pen was still opened. He had a feeling a life was interrupted here. Masha could walk back in at any moment and claim her place in this room. 

“So disturbing though.” 

“That too.” Darcy replied, unusually sombre. She sighed. “Let’s get to it, then.” 

For the hour, they went through their friend’s possessions – first the clothes, the shoes and the makeup. Nothing new there. Then they went through the drawers, those were filled with various Knick knacks like pens, refills, a bill here and there, even a ring, but mostly Masha kept her old notes there.   
“Should we take those...?” Loki tried. “I know shit what this is, but it could be important.” 

Darcy started at the papers. “Let’s just take the computer for now. And the notepad she was working on.” 

“I suppose.” He replied. “What if she was killed for her work and we’re too dumb to notice?” 

“Then we’re fucked.” Darcy stated. Loki looked at her and then they bother erupted in laughter. “So very fucked.” He reiterated. 

++++

Back at home, Loki had to ignore Masha’s computer. His friend might have been dead, but he still had a future that needed tending to. Coursework basically. Very annoying coursework, that demanded far too much attention and concentration. If only he could find it. He didn’t want to do the investigation – the computer was safely in his room – and he didn’t want to deal with his work either. 

“Ughhhh.” Loki read the same sentence for the second time. 

His flatmate was dressed in hideous black and green stripy leggings, her face was empty of makeup and her huge granny glasses really tied the whole closeted librarian look together. It was exactly what Darcy was going for in her private look.   
Tying her hair in a bun, she responded “I thought you already finished that?” 

“Almost… there is 400 words left to write and I just can’t pull them out of my ass. Don’t even get me stated on the reference list… why do I do this to myself?” 

“Ahhh academic procrastination, why do the assignment, when you can just research it to death?” 

Loki raised his eyebrow. “How is your assignment going?” 

“I no longer comprehend Italian, and I hate philosophy with a passion. But at least I spent my morning trying.” 

“I know you think this is helpful, but I promise I wish you were unable to speak.” 

“That’s ok, I don’t need words to shade you.”

Darcy loved to annoy Loki into working, not that he needed her, but sometimes guilt tripping worked wonders when he was stuck. Like now. Pouting, the black-haired boy wrote something and then deleted it. It wasn’t good enough. 

As for the computer, Darcy was equally ignoring it. 

Firstly, she made a huge, and loud, deal out of making her a snack. That snack was, and Loki still couldn’t believe it, a lemon pie that took 2 hours to make. That’s right. In order to avoid doing work and even solving the murder of their beloved friend, one protagonist made a pie from scratch and the other observed. He was promised pie only if he finished the 400 words. Isn’t it amazing you can be so productive and not advance anywhere? 

At 6 pm Darcy crashed. She finished her piece of pie, put down the fork and after placing her head on the table, she was snoring in 5 minutes. Her companion, who didn’t start his day at 4 am, cleaned up her mess. You could say a lot of things against Darcy, but she liked to clean as she cooked. A great quality at any given time, but this. Loki just wanted to be distracted. He wanted to spend an hour cleaning the kitchen, but all it needed was 10 minutes.   
Making the adult decision, he tackled the reference list that has been on his mind just as much as Masha’s death. Working until 10 pm, Loki went to sleep satisfied with himself. 

“Good morning!!” Darcy shouted in his ear. She sat down on his bed, placing the coffee cup she brought along on Loki’s nightstand. 

“I have done some digging. I say that it took 3 minutes to find this out and the rest of the hour, I read texts. And then did the stupid thing because you were sleeping   
and said and I quote “yeah, whatever, let me sleep.” – 

“What are you talking about?” 

“I know who Masha’s mystery boy-man was.”


	3. What even is This?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Been a while, but I am back at it. Let's get the show on the road again. Chapter three should be here by the end of January, as well as chapter four. Woop woop. 
> 
> Happy New Year!

Loki was gobsmacked. Darcy loved doing the stupid thing – so did he – but those were usually eating too much pasta or buying the book he wanted but not needed. Not inviting a suspect into their home. Literally home, she gave him their address, like a dumbass. 

He was still in bed, the bedside clock announced it to be too early for this shit. Thank god, Darcy brought him coffee. His bedroom was dark due to the shutters keeping the light outside. Ljubljana could be very bright, the sun intensely shining everywhere. Loki hated that, it made him feel like he was missing something important. In contrast, he loved the grey days. The English weather reminded him of home, the first time he saw that dull sky his heart sang. It was like a sign.   
“Right, take me through what happened.” The warm smell of coffee helped, it was nice to hold something warm after being so rudely awakened into a cold morning. The radiators stopped heating during the night and the whole apartment was significantly colder. The multitude of outside walls didn’t help either. 

Darcy sat herself next to his feet, crossed her legs and took a sip of her own warm beverage. “I was looking through her phone, just being a lurker, because why not. Next thing I know I find some juicy texts – not sexting, but more like, meeting at 6 type stuff. Nice talking to you, and the best one,” she paused for dramatic effect. Holding her hands away from her body, Darcy looked everywhere but Loki. After a sufficient amount of time, she spoke again: “asking for an impromptu meeting just three days before she died.” 

Loki’s heart sped up, they found an actual clue that leads somewhere. Of course, Darcy was right to be contrite about her fuck up, but at least things were moving. 

“Then, and I can’t take the full credit, the phone rang. You heard that right, the mother efing phone rang. And it was the man himself. So I was like, hey I got nothing to lose. I answered it, he was very nice about it. Asked for Masha, guess the boi didn’t hear she was a turned into the saddest popsicle yet.” She sighed and bringing the mug to her lips she carefully took a sip. “So instead of being all bitchy about it, I invited him here – to Ljubljana, not our home – so we could discuss what they were up to. Maybe he can help.”

Loki ran his fingers through his hair to untangle the knots that always appeared overnight. It was a nuisance of his life. He brought his knees to his chest and placed his chin on them. “I suppose that wasn’t a complete fuck up then.” 

He slurped his coffee and smacked his lips with satisfaction, the coffee was black with lots of sugar. As a consequence, it tasted more like sugar than coffee, making it completely undrinkable for Darcy who needed all the milk in the world, but shunned sugar in a coffee. 

“Look who came off his high chair to bless us mortals.” Darcy teased him in a gentle voice. “I am just glad that things are moving, if nothing else we’ll know our friend a little better.” She never held any mug in a correct way, always ignoring the handle, instead placing her hands on the warm sides. Loki wondered how she could bear it – his coffee was hot and he barely held it by the handle. 

“It just seems odd,” she continued, “I was reading the texts and she sounded exactly like her, shocking since they were her texts, but usually you only see the ones you get, and here I got to read all of them. Like the ones to her mum, and workmates and all the shitty ones from her ex. Her voice jumped up at me, like she was there, alive and well.” Last night Darcy dreamed that Masha was still alive, they were on their way to that Twenty One Pilots concert they really wanted to see. She was pretty sure some of the actual texts wormed into the dream. It was the best and the worst. 

Loki had no words; his mind was racing. How do you respond to something like that? There must be something. “I suppose this is why we are doing this. To honour our friend, put her to rest, in our own strange way.”

“True.” Darcy downed her drink. She grimaced, it was too hot. 

“When is he coming then?” Loki had some work left to do, not that he lacked the actual time for it, it was just knowing that there was one more thing that immediately made him want to do everything and nothing. 

“Tonight. I though a dinner is just what we need. If nothing else, I googled him and he is loaded.”

“So are our parents, Darcy, that’s why we live in the city centre alone.” 

“They are rich, he’s loaded.” She put emphasis on loaded. “Like I have a private plane loaded.” 

Loki groaned. “This could have been handled better, but we are being positive, and we are making progress.” 

“That’s the spirit!” Darcy was carefully observing her friend’s face. His upturned nose always reminded her of Bill Skarsgard (in a good way). It was a good nose. “Will you please pick him up at the airport?” 

“Really?” 

“I have a date tonight.” 

“You do?” 

“Yeah, um, I met her a week ago in the library and she asked me to an exhibition and I was like sure. I didn’t really realise it was a date until she asked me out again   
and specifically said it’s a date.” 

“I didn’t know being unaware of your partner’s intentions was a thing that extended to bisexuals.” 

“That’s your only reply?” she hit him on the knee, “I could have been a lesbian, dude.” 

“Nah, you gushed about too many boys to me.” 

“Not a proof.” 

“Why are we arguing about that?” Loki smiled. “I will pick him up, and I think we should go talk to the inspector and the ex boyfriend.”

“OMG, so many people in one day, are you ok?” It wasn’t like Loki to be that outgoing. He preferred to avoid people of he could. 

“I am propelled by anxiety.” 

“As soon as you finish those 400 words and reference list.” Darn, he was hoping to procrastinate by way of being productive. Like when Darcy went through all her Italian verbs instead of studying vocabulary and doing grammar exercises. 

“That one is done, and I need 287 more.” Before Darcy barged in, he was thinking of what he was supposed to write. He had just about decided that he was going to add a sentence here and there. 

“Just write a longer conclusion, dude.” She handed him the computer off his table. “I’m making pancakes for breakfast.” That would work too. 

“Make them thicc.” 

Loki loved his background photo – it was fanart of the countess and Tristan from AHS. Iconic queens. The one on his phone changed all the time, but this one has been there for years. It still made him smile. He worked quickly, as Darcy was making breakfast, having no difficulty in finding the right words. Sometimes a good night’s sleep was the best thing for an impossible situation. 

“What should I ask them?” Loki addressed Darcy on his way to the toilet, “There has to be a question we are forgetting.” 

“1- where they were, 2- if they know about her last week, 3- mystery bf, 4- maybe about their relationship with her, 5- about the death, 6- the night and why she was so underdressed.” 

Darcy paused, it was a pretty comprehensive list. “Should we record their answers?” 

“At least write them down immediately.” He added. 

“I’ll try recording today. It feels so rude though.” 

“I know right!”

“Ask them?” 

“I know you told me the questions.” 

“Not those, if you can record.” 

“Ahh, that makes sense.” If the toilet door was open you could hear the other person as if they were standing next to you. It made for some shy peeing and Loki was still uncomfortable pooping when Darcy was present. If you could hear with the door open, surely you could hear with the door closed. You had to. 

The floorplan of the apartment was messy due to the age of the house and the fact it wasn’t built with smaller living spaces in mind. Darcy lived here alone since she’s been 17. When he moved in a year and a half ago she still had unopened boxes in what is now his room. Together they furnished it, got a new couch for the living room and some nicer lights. Still, it was an old building with many walls. 

“Who are we annoying first?” Darcy flipped a pancake. It was thick and perfectly cooked. Next to her there was a stack of three already made ones. Loki turned sideways so he could reach the cutlery. It was a small kitchen, the island served as the only real separation from the living room, with the dining room to the left.   
“I haven’t spoken to the bf in a while.” Loki remarked. He thought about the work he had to do at some point. He had three days left to finish the assignment. Then there was an exam looming in two weeks. It was a big one so like a good student he already had all the papers somewhere on his table. 

“I didn’t know you ever did.” Masha’s ex-boyfriend was… something. He could never read, but he devoured podcasts and documentaries so he always knew things. In fact, he was a bit of a nerd. Kind to others, but frequently unknowingly uncaring since the thought that other people were as complex as him never occurred. This meant he treated her as he would himself, with the same occasional disdain of feelings and high standards. 

“Enough to have him added on facebook.” 

“Ahh, ok, I see.” Darcy didn’t care for him much. “I’ll text him if he wants to see us.” She offered.

“Ambush him with the real questions?” 

“Yup.” 

“K.” The table was set, two black plates with gold forks and two glasses of almond milk. In between them was a huge jar of Nutella, raspberry jam and maple syrup.   
Darcy turned the hob off. Loki took the plate of pancakes to the table. 

“Don’t even ask me why I have it.”

“You talk to him.”

“We both will.” She stuffed a non-bite sized pancake into her mouth. “Last time I saw him,” she muffled through the food, “I punched him.”

“Lovely.” He replied without an ounce of sarcasm. 

“It was very satisfying.” 

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Are we over-reacting?” he said slowly. “I know I already asked that, but I can’t shake the feeling like we are just killing time.” 

“What is the alternative? Spend the rest of our lives wondering?” She wiped her mouth with the sleeve of her at home cardigan. “That would be horrible.” 

“Life can be so crap, huh?” Loki sighed deeply. His pancakes were delicious, but they felt wrong – too sweet, too much like something he didn’t want. Not that he knew   
what he wanted. At least coursework was something he could figure out, or if he didn’t the consequences were minimal. This was weighing on him. 

“I hope we don’t get it wrong.” 

“We can only do our best.” Darcy reasoned, “it should be enough.” 

Loki suddenly realised that Darcy’s info didn’t add up, “if you punched him, why would he see you?”

“Because I am going to fake apologise, he will never see us coming.” 

“Clever.” 

“Thanks.” 

Loki finished off his pancake and left to get dressed.

+++

The air outside was still as cold and brisk as yesterday. The snow slightly melted during the night, but the morning chill froze it all again. Loki treaded carefully to avoid slipping on ice. He observed the cobbled street leading across the main square. It was sloped upwards, which made it even harder to avoid the ice. The layers were thin, too. Darcy was already far ahead of him. Her winter coat was a pale blue colour, complimented by the black bag. It was a rare day that she could carry only the bag and didn’t need an extra tote bag. She had many of those – from plain ones from institutions and libraries to novelty ones like I love Mr Darcy. Having learnt her lesson, she still had one packed with her, just in case. 

“C’mon, Lokes, think of the extra coffee.” She shouted at her companion. Darcy loved to run everyday – even in the winter. She was already looking forward to the 40   
minutes she was going to run later. Probably her favourite route, a steep road to the castle. Not worthy of the allotted 40 minutes, but the view was breath-taking. 

“I don’t need more coffee, I need a new lung.” 

He took a misplaced step and felt the slip. “Fuck”

A second later he was on the ground, legs in the air, wishing no one saw that. A wish was not enough, Darcy was already laughing, doing absolutely nothing to help him. On the other hand, the Japanese tourist was very concerned. 

“Thank you, I am fine. It’s all ok.” 

“Sure?”

“Yes, thank you again.” 

The man stood a second to make sure he really was fine then walked away. 

Loki stepped again with more confidence, he needed to catch up with Darcy. “Fucking weather,” he mumbled. The winters here were cold as balls and the summers as hot as fuck. There was no escaping the hell. 

“See, you made it.” 

“Shut up.”

The rest of the way was similarly treacherous, just as Loki thought he was safe there was a hidden patch of ice making contact with his boots. The traitor, Darcy, was skipping alongside catching him at the first sight of unbalance. 

“There he is, the asshole.”

“I don’t think I ever heard you say that in a negative way.” Loki wondered. He pulled down his pom-pom hat so it once again covered his ears. It was from the girl’s section of Top Shop, but hey it was too cute and just the perfect shade of green.

“You’re so full of wisdom today.” 

“Your plucky attitude needs to be punished.” 

“Who died in your coffee?” Darcy snapped. She took a deep breath and exhaled. A cloud of cold air showed. 

“Why are you picking a fight?” Loki was shook. He merely commented on her choice of words. 

“Why are you?” The girl raised her voice a bit. 

“I am NOT.” He looked at her, she was fidgeting. “I’ll be nicer.” He agreed sheepishly. 

“Darcy, Loki. An unexpected surprise.” His tone was as icy as the air outside. 

“Yes, I know, it’s wonderful to see you too.” Loki smiled broadly. Fuck that guy. 

“Let’s go inside.” 

Darcy and Loki exchanged a look behind his back. Matt didn’t wait for them to agree, he was already on his confident way. Neither did he ask what table they wanted to sit at. He chose himself. The pair both hated making that decision, but it was right to ask! Was he gonna order for them too?

“I heard you wanted to apologise.” 

“Whew, we going straight to that.” Darcy laughed. 

“And you must be here for a chance to punch me.” He continued, disregarding Darcy’s reply.

“I was thinking poison, but I’ll settle.” 

“Charming.” Gesturing at the waiter, he looked at the brunette again. 

“So, I’m waiting.” 

“About that,” Darcy began, “we have a few questions and then we’ll apologise.” 

“We?”

“I though Loki gets to punch you too. It’s only fair.”

Matt rolled his eyes. “What do you want to know? How I froze my ex girlfriend to death?”

“Did you?” Loki perked up. 

“No, I wasn’t even here.” 

“Where were you?” Darcy jumped in. 

“I was away for the weekend. Not that it is any of your business, I took my girlfriend to Salzburg. We stayed the night.”

Darcy smiled. She scrunched up her nose and gave a little “hmph”. 

“You have a new girlfriend, how nice.” She commented. Fuck face, she really should punch him again. 

“And when did you leave?” Loki asked.

“Friday afternoon.” 

Loki and Darcy started at him.

“It’s been 6 months.” He defended himself. The coffee arrived. Darcy and Loki both had decent sized cups, while Matt was a strict espresso drinker. “Besides, she   
called me, what… a month before she died… that she hated me and never wanted to see me again. She had something better in her life.” 

“What did she mean by that?” Loki asked because Darcy took a sip at the same time as he finished talking. 

“I asked she didn’t say.”

Loki raised an eyebrow. 

“Fine, I didn’t care. But she wasn’t exactly forthcoming with information. Hung up on me as soon as she could.” 

“Interesting.” Darcy slowly said.

“It really wasn’t.” Matt replied, not to be outdone. “It lasted for 30 seconds. Sounded really smug, like she had such a better time now.” 

“You thought she had a new boyfriend?” Darcy asked.

“Yes.” He finished the glass of water that came with the coffee. 

“Now, do I get my apology?” 

“Sure, sorry I punched you.” 

“Great. I’m leaving now.” Matt announced and left 20 euros on the table as he exited the café.

“At least he paid.” Loki said. Darcy shrugged. This was literally no new information. She humiliated herself for that asshole, so he could tell her what she already knew.   
It was exasperating. The rich guy better hold the secret to this whole thing. 

“When does the mystery man arrive?” 

“At 6. Says he’ll stay at the new fancy hotel.” 

“Mkay.” 

“I can’t believe he didn’t tell us anything new. I was so sure, he knew something.”

“How come? Did you read something to make you think he did?” unlike Darcy, Loki knew Matt was unlikely to give them any new intel – while Darcy was doing her makeup he messaged Clint and arranged to see him for lunch. Nothing like a false pretence to get a guy to talk and nothing like free food to get that guy to open up.  
“There was an odd message from her. The last one.” She began rummaging through her purse. Half finished packets of gum emerged, old torn receipts, a lip balm, lipstick, a pen that no longer worked. All this before she found her own phone and next to it Masha’s. 

“Look here.” She opened the messenger app and somewhere under Steve, Masha’s colleague, her supervisor, Darcy, Loki, Mum, Natasha and even Jane, was Matt. 

“See this?” 

Masha: I figured out that thing and I am never telling you the secret. Keeping all the money to myself, you may visit me in my castle to apply for the position of a jester.   
Matt: lol. K.

The message was dated to three weeks before her death and was sent at 2 am. 

Loki took it all. He was right, he could feel the wheel turning, this was a solvable problem.

“Money?? Darcy, we have a motive! I can’t believe you didn’t tell me that before!” he exclaimed hushly, because they were still inside, obviously. 

“I didn’t because it didn’t make sense. I wanted to ask him about it, in a round about way, since the dude better not think we are onto him, just in case. I really wanted to know what the money means, but dude, I think this has something to do with what she was working on and all the secret meetings.” Darcy explained herself. So maybe she should have told him why she suspected Matt.

Loki nodded. “So when he arrives, first thing we ask.” He though about Matt’s reply. “Matt didn’t take her seriously enough, I mean K?” 

“Right,” Darcy continued, “someone must know something, if not Star-boy, than the PhD supervisor has to.” 

“You think it has something to do with her PhD?” It could have, he thought. 

“What else did she have going on with her life?” Darcy was feeling confident, maybe they didn’t need that weasel to tell them, they will figure it out all on their own   
and he will feel bad about it.

“A whole other life apparently.” 

“I really wished I understood all the mumbo-jumbo she was talking about. I am just a poor silly language student.” Darcy complained. “We really should read what she   
has of her thesis, and the notes.”

“Are you saying we need to become experts just so we can read those 40 pages she wrote?” Loki sighed, “fucking hell, Darce.”

“Maybe, she used easy words. You try first, you’re a chemistry student, you deal with odd potions and lotions.” 

“Obviously, I’ll try, but fuck, what if we are too dumb to notice the actual motive?”

“Nahh, mate, we are not that stupid.” 

Loki raised his eyebrow. “Positive thinking, Loki, positive thinking.” 

“Fine, I have a class to fake attend, then lunch with Clint.” There is always that one class that is really boring, but mandatory so you spend all of it on your phone probably solving Buzzfeed quizzes. Fake attendance. Loki wasn’t the only one that did that. It was his uni friend that suggested Buzzfeed quizzes in the first place. 

“Now who’s not telling who?” she smiled. Loki stood up, he put the gloves on first, then picked up the scarf, the hat and lastly put on his coat. His companion did the   
same, except she put on the gloves last, like a normal person.

“He’s an easy target, sweetie.” 

“We should also go see the detective again.” Darcy suddenly remembered. 

“How did we forget that? Should have done that first.” Loki had a good memory, but every now and then some information slipped his mind. Stupid man, he thought.

“This is literally our first rodeo, I think we can forgive ourselves for… you know, forgetting.” Darcy defended their poor choice. Launching straight into interrogation of the suspects was a rookie move, Jessica Fletcher would never forget to annoy the sheriff. 

“First thing Monday morning, we march there and demand answers.” Loki settled the question. He kissed Darcy’s cheek and turned right toward his faculty. “Byee.”


	4. The Usual Suspects

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's another filler chapter because I am crap. BUT, expect some tea to be spilled in the next chapter and perhaps dome hate-filled Loki and Tony scenes because they need to hate each other before my babies can fall in love.

Loki was a little bitch. Ignoring people’s texts was his speciality, it was so easy to leave people on read and say to yourself that maybe you will reply. That last part was important when it came to family members. His were still living in London and although Loki hated his father with a passion, he loved his mother. The brother was a whole different story. It pained him to see Thor because so many bad memories resurfaced, but he was still seeking his approval. Loki wanted to be a good brother, but not right now. So he ignored the second text in three days asking him to reply. 

“Man, I wish the waiter would bring our food already.” Clint complained. He devoured the soup and the spring rolls that always arrived at that particular restaurant. Slovenia was a very student-friendly country in some respects, for example one could get a full meal for as low as 3 euros thanks to government subsidies. Those restaurants are required to serve you a soup, a salad, a main and sometimes even a desert, usually fruit. Hence, the spring rolls and soup. 

“It’s been 5 minutes, relax.” Loki was only halfway through his starter. He was a slow eater. I have a question to ask, he thought. Nah, too vague and threatening. Loki was nervous, he should have asked Darcy to come along, she always knew the right way to phrase a question and had no qualms actually asking them. 

“Can I ask you something?” Loki tentatively began. 

“Sure.” Clint stopped eyeing the food at the next table. “What is it?” 

“Do you think Masha’s death was not just an accident?” Clint’s face became sombre, not his happy self. His brown eyes hardened. 

“You had to go there,” he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, “it’s been bothering me, I’ not good with people dying around me.” Clint focused his gaze on   
the painting behind Loki. “I just wish I could have done something different that night. That if I had paid more attention, she would have been still alive.” He was   
uncomfortable, his arms were crossed on his chest. 

Loki knew the feeling. It was horrible and undeniable guilt that was tearing him apart. 

“Yeah…” was all he could muster. “Umm, can you just tell me, when you last spoke to her.” Brilliant, super obvious you are out to get information, Loki thought. 

“At the party, obvi. She was so happy, said she was having such an amazing week. She’d just come back from America, excited about that like any other person…what else did she say…um, she said she had been working a lot and this was a great time to have a break.” 

“America?” Puzzle piece! 

“Yeah, been there for something science-y.” Clint frowned. Did he know that? 

“Never told me that.” Loki felt a tang of something nasty inside of him. How come Masha was spilling all her tea to every passing stranger, but the two people she was possibly closest to, knew nothing? Unless… they weren’t actually as close as they thought. 

“Oh, she told me it was a secret. She’s dead now though, what harm can telling you do?” So it was an actual secret. 

A discreet tear swelled up in his eye. Man, he missed his friend. Masha was a glue keeping all the friends together. Without her, he doubted he would ever see anyone, other than Natasha, again. 

“I knew her since high school, you know. Totally doesn’t make sense she’s dead.” 

Loki decided he wouldn’t push him further. “I’m here. If you need to talk.” He promised and meant it. 

+++

Darcy had many a fabulous dress in her closet. She had many a fabulous shirt and skirt. None of them seemed right for tonight. 

“I don’t feel like wearing any of these!” she sighed. There was a glittery red dress she felt like wearing, but none of her shoes were both cute and warm enough to survive the cold outside. Her hand caressed the silky material. “I guess I could wear the boots…” the restaurant wasn’t far and Darcy knew it to be warm (everywhere was pretty warm, but some places have a little more draught to them than others. She had sinus issues it was important for her to know these things.) “Better take my other coat.”

She had already done her makeup, as always it took her 30 minutes to apply foundation, contour and eyeshadow. Darcy had full lips that were always in a slight pout, still she chose a Christmassy red lipstick. The whole look was a bit much, but she didn’t care. Darcy was a bit much herself. 

“Looking cute!” Loki remarked as she emerged from her bedroom to the living room. For the past hour he had been reading Masha’s thesis. It was difficult in some points, but with the help of google and some of his old textbooks he was getting by. 

“Thank you, dear sir.” Darcy sprawled over the comforter. Don’t you just love my dress?” 

“You know I do, I gave it to you.” Loki smiled. He closed the laptop shut. Enough of being smart, he needed a break. He thought about baking something, but he didn’t really have enough time or ingredients for a satisfying bake. At least they had a sweet potato at home, he was going to chuck in the oven as soon as Darcy left. At nine, he would have to talk to the scary new person – who has now been identified as Tony Stark – a well known energy magnate. The whole thing with Masha was getting curiouser and curiouser. But also not, since her thesis was on some theoretical thing his father had been developing in the 80s. 

“Ahh well, dear sir does not appreciate the fact I too am a gift.” She drawled in a fake Texas accent. It was horrendous, but hilarious coming out of her mouth. Darcy spoke with a nasal voice and a slight lisp, so the combination was especially odd. 

“Have a nice date.” Loki wished her. His mind already moving on to the sweet potato. 

“Thank you, I hope I will.” Darcy put on a coat made out of the softest material. It was white and pink, like it was knit, hemmed with fake fur of pale pink. She received   
many compliments for it and loved it, despite it not being quite as warm as it looks. Then again, few coat-makers’ looks are made for temperatures under -5 degrees Celsius. Her boots were guarding what would have been exposed under the dress and instead of a hat, she put on furry earmuffs. 

Their apartment was in the city centre; the strict centre was small and was redone a few years back. It was limited to one street and the little square that was at the end of it. That was the main shopping street, though few things there were worth buying, unless you liked Austrian department stores, ice-cream, Mcdonalds, bookstores and kebab. The real shopping experience was 15 minutes away form the centre, or in the old part if boutiques were your thing. The old part was from the middle ages, the roads were still cobbled, the paths narrow, and the sun rarely made it through the 4 storey buildings that were also from another age. You found many good restaurants there, though more tourists ate there than actual natives. Darcy’s favourite tea shop and tea house were there, serving quality loose-leaf tea, and a place that serves crepes filled with thick Nutella, white chocolate, coconut… really anything you wanted. They were famously hard to finish. Loki and Darcy tried and always failed, no matter how long they’ve gone without eating prior to the challenge. The shops were small, mostly meant for tourists – traditional Slovenian foods, drinks, salt (yes, salt, it was a big artisanal export) and trinkets. Among the clutter you found boutiques selling expensive clothes and overpriced adorable junk, like hand-made earrings, cute notebooks, pens, mugs and home decorations. 

Their apartment was right by the old and the new part of the centre. It overlooked the Congress square, also called Park Zvezda (literally called the Star Park) because the paths crossed one another in the shape of a star that a four-year-old would have drawn. The houses were old, all at least from the 20th century if not older, so none of them had a lift, but instead many narrow staircases. Going home drunk was difficult, but not as difficult as finding a nice apartment in the centre – they were incredibly lucky to live there, as the prices were high, demand also, the apartments either old as hell and needed renovating or new. Either way they cost a pretty penny. During the summer, Loki and Darcy could listen to music from their windows that was coming from the square. Outdoor festivals, street concerts, vibrant and full bars right by the river Ljubljanica that was on the other side of their building. Ljubljana is a full city, but it can’t escape the boring months of February and March. Christmas is over, the lights and the Christmas market taken down, the tourists thankfully gone, but the cold temperatures and the heavy celebrations of the previous months left people reluctant to leave their homes. 

Darcy was meeting her date, Val, in Vigo. As the best ice cream place in town, so declared by the natives, it was crowded summer and winter. Because hot chocolate with ice cream is incredible. She was overdressed, but that didn’t bother her, it was only the first stop in a long evening. She was promised food and an art exhibition, damn it! 

Choosing to take the way by the river – also known as the scenic route – she promenaded by the lights illuminating the water. They were hidden under the bridges, and there were plenty of those, and shone in green, purple and white, respectively. The result always took her breath away. 

“Hi.” Val greeted her. She was sitting in a comfy chair, standing up as soon as she recognised Darcy’s shape. The pair hugged. “Hey, how are you?” Darcy greeted her. 

“Not bad, perusing the menu.” She joked. 

“Perusing, nice word choice.” 

“Thank you, I was pleased with it too.” Val smiled. “Lovely dress.” 

“Thanks, I was going for the can’t let go of Christmas look.” Darcy folded her scarf and sat down between her clothes. “Fuck, it’s cold. I hate bringing so many clothes with me, like I bring a lot of stuff already, but in winter, I need three chairs not my usual two.” 

“Three chairs? I hadn’t noticed.” Sarcasm marked her voice. The round table had four chairs around, two were taken by Val and Darcy sitting in them. The other two were full of clothes, scarfs and bags. Darcy managed to distribute her belongings to both of them. 

“You’re just jealous because you don’t have my gift.” 

“You are definitely right, who would want to use the allotted space, when you can have it all.” Val was an exchange student, one of many that were greeted by the University of Ljubljana every year. She and Darcy met in the toilet where Val caught her taking a picture of a mini graffiti. It was the opening lyric to Miracle Aligner by The Last Shadow Puppets written in white marker. Alex Turner brought them together. 

“Listen,” she jumped to explain, “the allotted space is a social construct, invented by capitalism, so that more people can fit into spaces like this and more money is made that way. I take the space I need, as simple as that.” Darcy smiled, in the back of her mind she was still nervous. Val was too pretty and too cool for her. She considered herself a hot mess few could afford. Loki could pay the price, but could Val? 

“Now, as you may have noticed, I am a lot to handle. Can you?” she teased her, but mostly she was fishing for the truth. “I am very loud, and I have few social inhibitors left thanks to my being an obnoxious American in Europe. Also it’s my personality.” 

Val was playing with the menu, running her finger along the frayed edges. “I too am difficult. I guess we’ll just have to handle each other.” 

“Good, now this is a great time to tell you I am being an amateur sleuth and trying to find out if my friend was murdered, kind of difficult.” Darcy dropped the bombshell with a passive face.

“Well that is new.” Val was intrigued. “Tell me everything.”

+++

Loki woke up in alarm. Literally, he set an alarm before going to listen to a podcast. His current favourite was Hyponogoria, an entertaining and illuminating show about everything horror related. He alternated episodes of that with episodes of Stuff You Missed in History Class. Again informative, this time about history. He had fallen asleep on the couch, his diary now open on the floor. 

Right, that guy, he thought. What does one wear to meet with a billionaire? Oh, wait. No time. He set the alarm for when he had to put on his shoes and leave. Loki sighed. The snow was falling again, he would need an umbrella. He rushed through the apartment to collect what he needed: his clothes obviously, the before mentioned umbrella, a notepad, his keys and wallet. Since he had too many things, he decided to put them in his Cambridge satchel – a gift from his parents two years ago. It was frayed at the edges from being left on the ground, and the clasps were at their ends because he would pull the leather through to close the bag and five minutes later remember he needed something, so he would pull it out, only to close the bag again. 

The street was illuminated by strong lamps, making it easier to see the icy spots. The pavements that were previously cleared of snow, were now covered in a 5 cm layer that was thickening by the minute. Watching his steps he slowly arrived to the hotel. It was a tall building on the edge of a very busy road. Built last year, he both had the impression it had been there forever, and that it was so new it would never belong inside Ljubljana. The real gag was that they were building another hotel just like it across the street. 

He entered the building unsure of what to do next. Darcy didn’t give him a number, not even a description. He just knew the name – Tony Stark – but he was too lazy to google him. Loki, being British, didn’t particularly care about American billionaires. 

“She was right, you do look like a healthy vampire.” Loki spun to see who said that. He saw glimpses of the lifts, the reception and finally a man in a fancy suit. 

“Do I know you?” stupid question… 

“Not yet, I’m Tony and your friend Darcy told me you are going to be here. Said those exact words, and I gotta say, they were enough to recognise you.” Tony was a head shorter than him and far younger than he had expected. For some reason he thought he was in his 40s?? Like, he knew it didn’t make sense now he had seen him, but it was just a truth he believed in his mind. 

“Darcy is known to make outlandish and accurate statements.” He smiled at him. “I’m Loki.” They shook hands. “How was the flight?” 

“Same as always. Long, boring, uneventful.” Loki was unprepared. Meeting new people is always difficult, what should he say next? Obviously he shouldn’t jump straight into what he really wanted to know – how he knew Masha, what was going on – but god, he wanted those answers badly.

“Is there food here? Anywhere?” 

“Sure. I’ll show you around while we’re at it.” Loki was grateful he had something to do and say. “Any cravings?” 

Tony looked at his guide. The weather was shit, but the boy was hot. This could be a disaster for him. “I don’t know, what’s your favourite place?” 

“Do you like burgers?” he asked. 

“I do.” Tony replied. “Is it very cold outside? I forgot my jacket upstairs.” 

“Dude, I look like the Michelin man, it’s freezing and snowing.” 

Tony looked outside. He should have noticed the snow, but he took a catnap. 

“Global warming is a thing. There is a mountain pass in Slovenia where it was -35 yesterday.” Loki looooved talking weather. It’s complaining, but about nothing, yet it still tells you something about a person. 

“I’ll go get every… thing I own, be back in a second.” Loki had enough time to nod before Tony disappeared. 

+++

Val was having a great time. Darcy made her laugh, she was adorable, everything about her was. From her pouty lips to the fact she kept gum between her boobs, Darcy bounced around life like it was the most incredible thing. She was envious of that, for her life was a big mess she constantly needed to untangle. Seeing people happy and carefree brought a pang to her heart. Not for Darcy, though, she wanted her to love every breath she took. 

“I am so going to miss this place when I leave.” The exhibition turned out to be a quick stop. There were few interesting things there, it was mostly boring modern art. Not that Val found modern art boring, it was just those particular pieces. And there was no catering. 

“When is that again?” Darcy impaled a penne pasta with her fork. They were at her favourite place to eat, even though it had lost some of its allure in the past years. It   
used to be a fancy place with a slightly less fancy part. The second part was the new and pretty one she liked. Then one day the menu changed, the waiters were new   
and the wait for your food became longer. 

“End of July.” 

“That’s not that soon, you made it sound like you’re leaving next week.” Darcy berated her. “You know, when I first moved here it was supposed to be only for one year – my last one of highschool. I went to an international class. I fell in love with the city and when my parents left, I stayed.” 

“Why did they leave?” Val asked, it seemed odd to leave an 18-year old behind. 

“For work, they arrived here for a year and left when they had to.” She fished a grape out of her iced tea. “They do something with numbers and move around a lot. It   
feels good to be in just one place.” 

“Even alone?” this was Val’s first time on her own, before she never even left Sweden. 

“Even alone.” 

+++

“Explain this to me” Tony was confused by the city centre, “there are buses here, yet people are walking across the road like anywhere. Do they have a death wish?” 

“It’s the way the city centre is organised. No cars, to minimise pollution.” 

“It’s unnatural, I hate it.” 

“How would you have it be?” Loki asked, remembering the first time he heard the city centre was closed for cars. He too found it wrong, but now he was so used to it, he merely pointed it out as an occasional fun fact. 

“Busy.” Tony slammed back. “Though, there is a surprising amount of people outside. You know, since it’s fucking freezing.” He really was wearing everything he owned. A hat, mittens, a thick scarf, a jacket, he had to exchange his suit for a hoodie. Nothing prepared him for the cold. Loki didn’t offer to share the umbrella, but the snow was bearable now. 

“Yeah, well, it be like that sometimes.” 

“Unacceptable.” 

“Well, damn it, Jackie I can’t control the weather!” Loki joked. It was cold, yes, but it was winter. And he didn’t approve of those that escaped the deathly grip of cold. 

“Excuse you, I grew up in New York, I know unacceptable weather when I see it.” He’s been living in California for at least 14 years now, but he didn’t need to know that. 

“Funny wasn’t your flight from California?” Loki called him out, “don’t you wish you wouldn’t have a private plane, so I wouldn’t know where you’ve come from?” 

“I would never wish something as horrible as that.” Tony stopped shivering. He could feel the hair underneath his hat sweat and stick together. Maybe he should take it off. Loki just took his off and smoothed his black hair. It looked healthy, he had never seen healthy hair on anyone other than Pepper, his best friend. 

“Do you dye your hair?” He blurted out. Fuck, he thought, that was supposed to be a thought. Loki turned, “sorry, you asked something?” he had been thinking about food, trying to convince himself he didn’t want both fries and pasta. Especially now he was on his way to Hood Burger. But Darcy opened double cream yesterday and they had blue cheese. It would have been a delicious midnight night snack. 

Tony wanted to lie. “Do you dye your hair?” He couldn’t. not to him, it didn’t make sense to him, but Loki was so young and fresh faced. Tony wanted to drag him to a cave where he would take care of him like a barbie doll. 

“I do, but not myself. Darcy dyes it. She loves pretending to be someone she is not. Even serves me coffee like a real hairdresser.” 

“Wait until she starts charging you.” 

“Ahh, would she though.” He smiled. “Absolutely would.” Loki took a sudden turn to a much narrower street. “It’s just over there,” he pointed to a sign on the right,   
“my favourite burger place.” Loki looked at Tony. He had to remind himself to look at the people he was talking to. Tony started back at him. Great, they were both idiots. 

“Um, so, I have nothing else to say, really.” Loki yawned. 

“You looked like you had.” Tony didn’t know what else to say, he rarely met a person so unfocused. His parents taught him to look at his collocutor, but Loki was looking on the street, the store displays, the people passing. Everywhere, like a puppy excited to be outside. 

“No… I can give you a recommendation though.” Loki congratulated himself to looking at Tony who was also looking at him. 

“Ok, what’s good here?” Tony played along. 

“I always get a Hood Steak, but like, everything is good here. Especially the fries. They are to die for.” Loki’s mouth was salivating. He was going to use the hot sauce tonight, break a sweat. The hot sauce in HB was 10/10 on the hot scale and he was still ok after eating it, a feat Darcy couldn’t do. Well, it burned, as it should, but he liked it. He was still unsure how he could handle it, unless it was all a hoax and the 10/10 was a lie.

They entered and took second place in the queue. “Menu…” Tony mumbled and saw it was on the wall. He was going to take Loki’s suggestion, but it couldn’t hurt to take a look…

+++

Darcy was in heaven. They were at home, she ate her weight in pasta, Val was funny, cute and interested in her, but also sarcastic about everything. It was just what she wanted. 

“You have the best view.” Val was at the window overlooking the castle. The view was indeed spectacular, at night the castle was illuminated in green and blue, like the river. She could also see the river and the full bars and cafes on the other bank. Val wondered how was it that you hear none of the street sound inside. 

“I would kill for this look.” She continued. “I mean it, you might have an accident tonight.”   
Darcy was in the middle of sending a text to Loki. 

*omg, this date is going so great. Don’t come home any time soon.* 

she finished typing quickly. Her phone wasn’t set to silent – it always bothered Loki who had his on silent since 2015. She just liked the little noise it made when she typed. 

“Hmh,” she mumbled. “I am shaking in my boots.” She placed the phone on the kitchen counter. Joining Val at the window, she too gazed at the castle. Her heart hurt a bit, in a good way. It was all so beautiful. She loved this city.

“You could at least take my threats seriously.” 

“Or I could like not care and move on with my life.” Her tone was light, teasing Val as she has the entire evening. 

“Leave me? You could never.” Never mind that she inevitably would. But that was in the future, this was now. 

“Excuse me, but I have best friends that I have not spoken to since 2014 so… I win.” Darcy dragged herself out of the pensive mood that settled in the room. She could feel it in Val too. Her replies were snarky as ever, but said with so little bite and mainly addressed to a point somewhere outside. Would they have to be vulnerable? 

“Yeah out-ghosting me really is winning life.” Val turned to Darcy. She was smiling. 

“I am just so bad at replying, ok? I didn’t mean to, and it’s odd now. It’s too late.” Darcy continued, “worst person you ghosted?” 

“Pretty much all my so-called regular friends since I’ve been here. I realised we have nothing in common, only uni, so no more calls and texts.” 

“Reasonable.” 

+++

“Are we going to talk about it?” Loki could no longer keep the question inside. He was patient, he did his duty as a host, but fuck it, he wanted to know why his friend was dead!

Tony had taken a bite out of his food just as Loki blurted out the question. The awkward silence as he chewed made it even worse. He had every intention of telling him, of course, but he was thinking after the meal. 

He swallowed the mushed up food. “Of course. What do you want to know?” 

“You know what I want to know,” Loki crossed his arms, his temper getting the best of him. “Why, how, when, how long?” 

“You really know nothing?” Tony was incredulous, he had assumed Masha told someone what she was up to. At least one person. He told Pepper… and his robots, but they were unlikely to spread the story. 

Loki shrugged, “should I?” he didn’t mean to come off as rude – he knew he was being horribly rude now – but… actually… “sorry, no she didn’t tell me, or Darcy anything.” He sighed, turning his head and making contact with Tony’s brown eyes. 

“We went through her phone and found you. I don’t think her parents know whatever was between you two.” 

“Between us?” Tony was confused, “I met her at a conference, and we worked on a secret project together, there was no meshing of parts if that’s what you’re implying.” He kept the eye contact, looking into Loki’s blue eyes. Tony thought how relieved he seemed to be. 

“A secret project? What about?” 

“Too public, I’ll tell you later.” He shot back, “next question.” 

“Important enough to get killed because of it?” 

“Yes.” 

Loki nodded. “Why should I believe you?” someone has to be lying, right? It could be him. Loki was just very annoyed at him, thinking he’s secret boy band activity is too fucking precious to be discussed in public. I mean, who does he think he is, fucking James Bond?

“I will tell you everything, not here though.” He stole a fry off Loki. One that was covered in hot sauce. 

His eyes widened as he felt the sauce. 

“Having trouble?” Loki smirked. Karma. 

“You’re taste buds are burnt off, how can you eat that with a straight face?” He gulped down half of his ice tea. He coughed because he was swallowing too fast. Loki patiently waited for him to stope before commenting. 

“I can. You’re just weak.” It made him feel a little better, but he was still pissed off. 

“Excuse me, but no, nope, nopety no.” Tony took a sip of the delightfully bitter ice tea, “and once more no.” 

“Methinks the lady doth protest too much” he pushed further. It was like watching his brother react, so easy to get one out of him. Loki knew it made him evil for enjoying it, so he didn’t do it often anymore. Well nearly never. When he was much younger, though, he would tease Thor until he would cry from the sheer frustration   
of the situation. He wasn’t proud of those moments. 

“Whatever, you’re just an asshole.” Tony responded. He picked up another of the evil, no good, hot fries and looked directly into Loki’s eyes as he ate it. 

“Probably, yes.” Loki smiled. 

The temperature dropped as they ate, it was now -10 and even Loki was freezing. He texted Darcy 5 times already if he could have the all clear to return and unsurprisingly not a single reply came. 

“Walk me back?” Tony shivered as he put on gloves. “And tomorrow I am buying all winter clothes in Ljubljana.” He pronounced the name Lu-bee-ah-na whick irked Loki’s ears, but since his pronunciation was only a tiny bit better he let it go. Darcy was the pro. 

“Sure. You can spill the tea in your room, or do you have to check for bugs first?” He felt a coin in his pocket and played with it, turning it around, feeling the edge as much as he could with the gloves. 

“I have people for that.” 

“My apologies then.” 

“Do you always have to be so sarcastic?” Tony jabbed. 

“Do you always have to have the last word?” Loki fired back.

“But isn’t your sarcasm a way of having the last word? How can I have it then?” 

“Tony, I don’t care about that.” Loki sighed, the cold air came out in a stream of what looked like white smoke. It was just condensation. 

Here’s the thing with -10 degrees, it’s too cold to snow. It freezes whatever snow there was, making it terribly slippery if it melted even a tiny bit. The best snowing temperature s 2 degrees, but anything to -2 will also do. 

“A word of truth, that must be painful.” Tony meant to joke, but he could see he struck a nerve. Loki stopped walking. He stood there, looking at him accusatory. 

“What the fuck did I do to give you that impression?” the words were harsh, but the delivery was harsher. Fuck Tony Stark, he can keep his information and fuck Darcy for not being here. 

“I use sarcasm to get out of telling the truth, I assumed you do same as me.” Tony walked the distance between them, “I am sorry if I offended you.” Loki relaxed his jaw but remained unconvinced. “Now, c’mon I don’t want to freeze.” 

They were so close it was criminal. “Fine.” 

The rest of the way to the hotel was spent in silence. The stuffed elevator ride was odd, Loki not making any kind of contact with Tony. 

“Can you talk now?” he said as soon as the door to the room was shut. 

Tony sighed. "I will tell you everything, but can you please answer you phone first?" He pointed to Loki's stuffed pocket. "The vibrating is doing my head in." 

"Ughhhh, fine." he groaned, dramatically. It was Darcy calling to gush about her date. 

He couldn't get a word in. "Where the fuck are you??? Your brother just showed up on my doorstep!"


End file.
